High Phosphate Levels Interfere With Kidney Medications

Elevated levels of blood phosphate can set chronic kidney disease patients on a rapid path to kidney failure, and also interacts with the effectiveness of important kidney drugs, finds study published in Journal of the American Society Nephrology .

The kidneys of patients with CKD cannot efficiently get rid of wastes such as excess phosphate in the blood. As a result, the kidneys become overloaded with phosphate. Carmine Zoccali, MD (CNR-IBIM, Clinical Epidemiology and Physiopathology of Renal Diseases and Hypertension of Reggio Calabria, Italy) and his colleagues wondered how this phosphate overload affects the kidneys of patients with CKD. They also wondered whether phosphate overload alters the effects of ramipril, a drug prescribed to slow the progression of kidney disease. (The use of ramipril and other drugs in its class represents the current standard of care for patients with CKD.)

Acute Renal (Kidney) Failure- Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Complications
Acute renal failure is the sudden cessation of the functioning of kidneys, that can be due to reduced renal blood flow, damage to renal tissues.

The researchers studied health information from 331 CKD patients, dividing patients into four groups based on their phosphate levels.

Among the major findings:

Even though their blood phosphate was still normal or near normal, patients in the two highest phosphate groups progressed more quickly to serious kidney dysfunction or kidney failure than patients with lower phosphate levels.
Higher phosphate levels blunted ramipril's benefits.

These results suggest that phosphate levels can predict which CKD patients are in serious trouble of developing kidney failure. They also show that high phosphate levels block the beneficial effects of important kidney medications.

Quiz on Kidney
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist, and are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine.

Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. The bladder stores urine. The kidneys, ureters, and bladder are partof the urinary tract.

kidneys remove wastes and extra fluid from your body. Kidneys also remove acid that is produced by the cells of your body and maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals-such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus and potassium-in your blood ().

Without this balance, nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body may not work normally.

Kidneys also make hormones that help

Control your blood pressure
Make red blood cells
Keep your bones strong and healthy

Future studies should test whether reducing phosphate improves kidney health and optimizes patients' medications. "Our study opens the exciting possibility that reducing phosphate, either by diet or drug treatment, may enhance CKD patients' response to certain drugs," said Dr. Zoccali. "If our findings are replicated in a new clinical trial, interventions aimed at reducing phosphate will be a relevant step forward in the fight against these dangerous kidney diseases," he added.

Source-Eurekalert

Ramipril

This medication is an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. It is also used to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients at risk for these problems and to improve survival in patients with heart failure after a heart attack.

Anatomy of Urinary System
Animation & slides showing anatomy of urinary system and the role of kidneys in getting rid of the waste products and excess fluid from our body to keep us healthy.